Problem: How many four-digit numbers $N$ have the property that the three-digit number obtained by removing the leftmost digit is one ninth of $N$?
Answer: Let $a$ denote the leftmost digit of $N$ and let $x$ denote the three-digit number obtained by removing $a$. Then $N=1000a+x=9x$ and it follows that $1000a=8x$. Dividing both sides by 8 yields $125a=x$. All the values of $a$ in the range 1 to 7 result in three-digit numbers, hence there are $\boxed{7}$ values for $N$.